Florida East Coast Industries got a boost from a $2.5 million state grant to support its South Florida Logistics Center near Miami International Airport.

The 400-acre industrial project came out of the ground in October with a 170,000-square-foot warehouse. It is designed to move freight between the ports and railroad tracks owned by Florida East Coast Railway, FECI’s sister company.

The money from the Florida Department of Transportation will fund site access roads at the Hialeah rail yard, truck loading ramps and internal traffic circulation roads.

“I am committed to ensuring that our transportation projects create more job opportunities for Florida families,” Governor Rick Scott stated in a news release. “With this $2.5 million investment for the South Florida Logistics Center, we’ll create more than one thousand jobs for families in the Miami area, which is great news.”

FECI believes that the expansion of the Panama Canal in 2015 will greatly increase the volume of trade in South Florida, creating the need for more logistics facilities. The PortMiami tunnel also is designed to facilitate faster cargo movement between the seaport and land.

“This grant will inject resources directly into the construction of an advanced transportation road network that will move goods seamlessly through our ports, and across our state and to destinations throughout the country,” Chris Scott, president and CEO of South Florida Logistics Services, stated in a news release.